Editorial: Health-care law threat to workers

Published: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 11:37 AM.

Many employees with part-time jobs can count on less work — and a smaller paycheck.

Why are changes happening how when the new “full-time” definition hasn’t taken effect?

That’s part of what you — and Congress — needed to read after Obama-care became law.

The law allows the feds to look back over a worker’s past history to determine whether he or she “averages” 30 hours a week. The clock on that “look back” period started ticking July 1. Onslow employers, like those across the nation, began rescheduling their workforce to ensure their compliance with Obama-care.

The calendar had barely flipped to July when government officials said hold on. They put the employer portion of Obama-care on hold for another year, making all the work that companies had done a waste of time and money.

Whenever the new law becomes a reality — if opponents are not successful in repealing it — there will be a price to pay for employees and employers.

In and around CravenCounty, businesses and employees are beginning to see just what former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meant when she said that the Congress would have to pass the Affordable Health Care Act to see what it was all about.

It doesn’t look good for some workers.

The law sets a new definition for “full-time” work — someone who averages 30 hours a week. Previously, there was no legal definition for “full time.” The government left it up to employers.

That’s as it should be. The number of full-time and part-time workers has a direct impact on a business’ bottom line. The responsibility for scheduling workers rests with owners and their designated managers, not with government.

That has changed with Obama-care. Work at least 30 hours and your employer — if there are 50 or more employees at your workplace — will be required to provide health-care benefits.

It is true that for every action there is a reaction, so employers are reacting in the way you would expect to protect the profitability of their businesses.

They are cutting employees’ hours.

Many employees with part-time jobs can count on less work — and a smaller paycheck.

Why are changes happening how when the new “full-time” definition hasn’t taken effect?

That’s part of what you — and Congress — needed to read after Obama-care became law.

The law allows the feds to look back over a worker’s past history to determine whether he or she “averages” 30 hours a week. The clock on that “look back” period started ticking July 1. Onslow employers, like those across the nation, began rescheduling their workforce to ensure their compliance with Obama-care.

The calendar had barely flipped to July when government officials said hold on. They put the employer portion of Obama-care on hold for another year, making all the work that companies had done a waste of time and money.

Whenever the new law becomes a reality — if opponents are not successful in repealing it — there will be a price to pay for employees and employers.

Fewer hours on the clock and smaller paychecks won’t be the only fallout from Obama-care.

Companies will be more likely to increase the number of part-time jobs and reduce the number of full-time positions.

In the end, individuals and families will see their incomes dwindle. You’ll be sure to see people cobbling together a living by working multiple part-time jobs.

Onerous regulations that accompany Obama-care will add costs to businesses which will have new requirements for record-keeping so they can prove their compliance in the event of a government audit.

The decision to delay Obama-care means the major pain of this socialistic health care program won’t be felt until after the mid-term elections — typical move by politicians.

Stay tuned. No good can come from government messing with your health care. No one had to read the law to know that.